VULGATE

text of the NT, with Wordsworth and White's variants in the margin, has been produced by E. Nestle (1907). Quite recently it has been announced that Pope Pius x. has entrusted the Benedictine order with the revision of the Vulgate text. It is satisfactory to Ijnow that they pro-pose to devote themselves in the first instance to the OT.

Literature, — ^The Prolegomena to Wordsworth's and White's edition; art. by Bp. Westcott in Smith's DB; art. by H. J. White in Scrivener's Introd. to Crit. of NT', with description of 181 of the principal MSS, and art. 'Vulgate' in Hastings' DB; and especially S. Berger's Hist, de la V-idg. pendant les premiers sihdes du moyen age (1893) .

WAR

Specimens of the principal classes of MSS mentioned in the present article may be seen in Facsimiles from Biblical MSS in the British Museum (1900). The best edition of the Clementine Vulgate is that of Vercellone (1861). For fuller bibliography, see Berger, op, eit,, and White's art. in Hastings' DB. F. G. Kenyon.

VULTURE.— 1. da'ah, Lv 11", dayyah or dayysth, Dt 1413 AV; in both passages RV has 'kite.' 2. 'ayyah. Job 28' AV; RV 'falcon.' These words certainly refer to some of the smaller birds of prey: the larger vultures are included in nesher, for which see Eagle. E. W. G, Mastebman.

w

WAFER.— See Bread, end.

WAGES. — Under the conditions of life in Palestine in OT times, work on the land, at all times the chief occupation, was done for the most part by the peasant and his family, assisted, in the case of the well-to-do, by a few slaves. The 'hired servants' were never numerous, and mainly aliens. We have no informa-tion as to the wages of such field-labourers. Dt 16" seems to say that a hireling cost the farmer twice as much as a slave, and since the latter received only his keep and his few clothes, it follows that the former will have earned the equivalent thereof, over and above, in wages. The first definite engagement — disregarding the special case of Jacob and Laban — with stipulated wages is that of the Levite whom Micah hired as his domestic chaplain for 10 shekels a year, with ' a suit of apparel' and his 'victuals' (Jg 17'"). The next instance is Tobit's engagement of the angel Raphael as his son's travelling-companion for a drachm a day and all found (To 5"). This amount — in Tobit's day nearly a shilling — would probably be equal in purchasing power to three shillings at the present day. From the NT we have the familiar case of the labourers in the vineyard who received a denarius for their day's labour (Mt 2a"i-; see Monet, §§ 6. 7 (6)).

Information is now available as to the wages of different classes of 'hirelings,' from doctors to tailors, in Babylonia c. B.C. 2000, from the Code of Hammurabi (see Hastings' DB, Ext. Vol. 592 f., 606 f.; S. A. Cook, The Laws of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi, 171 ff.), but it is perilous to compare too closely the highly developed social conditions of Babylonia, even at this early period, with the simpler forms of Hebrew life, say under the monarchy. A still better reflexion of the actual conditions of labour in the valley of the Euphrates is found in the numerous written contracts that have been deciphered in recent years, a specimen of which will be given below (see esp. Johns, BaJ). and Assyr. Laws, ch. XXV. 'Wages of Hired Labourers'; Meissner, A«s d. altbab. Recht, 13 f.). The Code of Hammurabi (§ 273) enacts that a field labourer shall receive from the beginning of the year (April) to the fifth month — the period of longer days and harvest operations — 6 she (180 she=l shekel) per day; and from the sixth month to the end, 5 she. At best this is only a shekel a month; but, according to Meissner, this early introduction of a 'standard wage' did not lead to a rise of wages, for only on very rare occasions do these exceed 6 shekels a year in addition to food and clothing. It was customary to give a sum, probably a shekel, as earnest-money, the remainder being paid at stipulated intervals, daily or monthly, or in a lump sum at the expiry of the engagement.

Brickmakers and tailors are to receive 5 she a day (§ 274), and herdsmen — the name nd0d is the Baby- Ionian form of that denoting the occupation of Amos, the prophet — 8 gur of corn a year, the gur being worth

probably about a shekel. In other cases as well. It was customary to pay in grain. Frequently, as has ■ been said, a written contract was drawn up, specifying the wages and the period of engagement. An example may be given from Meissner (op. cit. 14): —

' Asir-Ramman, the son of Libit Urra, has hired Shamash' bel-ili from the priestess of the sun, Achatani, the daughter of Sharaash-khazir, for one year. He will pay 3i shekels as yearly wages. He will find his own clothes. He will begin work on the 4th of the month Dur-Ramman, and will finish and leave in the month Mamitu.'

In OT times we hear also of yearly engagements (Lv 25*'), but the Deuteronomic Law enjoins daily payment of wages, in cases of poverty at least (Dt 24'', cf. Lv 19"). Details of the conditions of hire and the mutual obligations of master and servant at a much later period are to be found in the Mishna (see esp. Baba meeia, vi. and vii.). A. R. S. Kennedy.

WAGGON. — See Cabt, Agricultuee, § 3.

WAILING. — See Moubning Customs.

WALLET.— See Bag.

WALLS. — In Palestine the principal cities were protected by surrounding walls, sometimes of great size. That of Gezer, for instance, was fourteen feet thick. These walls were built of stones, set in mud, or else of brick. The walls of houses were generally ill-built structures of the same materials. The choice of material varied with the locality: Lachish (Tell el-Hesy), for example, was almost entirely a brick town; in Gezer brick is the exception. See also artt. City; FoBTiFiCATioN, 1; HousE, 4. For the walls of Jeru-salem, which may be taken as typical of a city wall, see Jekusalem. R. a. S. Macalister.

WAR. — 1. In the days before the monarchy the wars of the Hebrew tribes must have resembled those of early Greece, when 'the two armies started out, marched till they met, had a fight and went home.' Rarely, as in the case of the campaign against Sisera (Jg 4), was it necessary to summon a larger army from several tribes. From the days of Saul and David, with their long struggle against the Philistines, war became the affair of the whole nation, leading, also, to the establishment of a standing army, or at least of the nucleus of one (see Army). In the reign of Solomon we hear of a complete organization of the kingdom, which undoubtedly served a more serious purpose than the providing of 'victuals for the king and his household' (1 K 4').

Early spring, after the winter rains had ceased, was 'the time when kings go out to battle' (2 S 11'). The war-horn (EV 'trumpet'), sounded from village to village on their hilltops, was in all periods the call to arms (Jg 6^, 1 S 13', 2 S 20"). How far the exemptions from military service specified in Dt 20* -^ were in force under the kings is unknown; the first express attestation is 1 Mac 3*5.

2. War, from the Hebrew point of view, was essen-

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